Service providers in many industries rely upon client satisfaction surveys in one form or another to obtain feedback regarding how their clients perceive their performance in providing such services and corresponding support. For example, information technology service providers have employed client satisfaction surveys to gain an understanding of level of satisfaction that clients have with their provided service and support. In this manner, such information technology service providers can determine whether areas or facets of their provided service and support need improvement.
Typically, existing client satisfaction surveys are comprised of questions related to the provided service with the survey taker responding by selecting one of multiple choices directed to respective levels of satisfaction. Such surveys are often distributed in paper form to employees of a client, or electronically through an electronic mail system implemented on internal computer network. Additionally, client employees have been invited to take multiple choice electronic surveys at websites over the Internet.
The results of such surveys are then evaluated and the resulting information is often graphically depicted to facilitate understanding as to those service and support areas with high satisfaction and those service or support areas where improvement may be needed. client satisfaction surveys are often given periodically to ascertain whether such changes have improved client satisfaction those service or support areas needing attention, as well as to identify other service areas needing improvement. Commercially available conventional on-line computer-based software tools for creating the questions of client satisfaction surveys and evaluating survey results include, for example, Zoomerang from MartketTools, Inc. and SelectSurveyASP from ClassApps.com.
However, existing client satisfaction survey tools disadvantageously provide limited options to service providers. For example, a service provider that implemented a remedial change in the service or support it provides must await the results of a subsequent client satisfaction survey to identify if such changes had improved client satisfaction. Moreover, it is often difficult to respond with effective remedial changes as quickly as service providers would like because it would likely require a burdensome number of surveys taken by the client over a period of time. Accordingly, an improved survey method is desired by industries to allow service providers to adapt their services and support for improving client satisfaction without imposing a burdensome number of surveys on the client.